Cabernet verticals: good for the soul

The annual Fogarty Wine Group allocation tasting is a relatively intense event. Over 150 parcels of fruit are tasted and graded according to a strict set of criteria. The process takes almost six hours and to say that there were a few weary palates would be an understatement. Fortunately, the allocation was punctuated with a vertical tasting of both the Deep Woods Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (10 years) and the Deep Woods Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (8 years).

FWG doesn't often have the opportunity to taste these wines in across such a large number of vintages so it was an absolute pleasure to be able to do so. While a number of wines were particular standouts (see below), the tasting reaffirmed to us that the work that has been carried out in the vineyard and changes made in the winery over the last six vintages have absolutely led to an increase in quality. It also highlighted that the Cabernet grown at Deep Woods Estate is consistently of the highest quality with a number of the older wines showing the same style and opulence that we aim for every day with our new release wines.